LONDON  Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London) Times reported.

Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme in the UK, it has been suggested the private companies who win the contract will be tasked to perform several police functions  including patrols, detention and criminal investigation.

KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton group, has attracted its share of criticism over the large contracts it won with the US government during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The corporation also helped to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

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Well, at least confession rates should go up if the custody suite resembles Gitmo?

Oh great, what a ******* brilliant idea that is. Privatise one of governments primary objectives of protecting the public. I suspect that the capture, prosecution and incarceration of criminals will become profitable. What's the bet that the more criminals they catch, the more money they make. Therefore, don't waste time on crimes where it's hard to get a conviction e.g. rape, professional burglary, gang crime, etc. Lets concentrate on the low hanging fruit. Drunk and disorderly, littering, traffic offences etc.

Some things you can't privatise, some things need to be a function of government and law enforcement is one of those things.

The article in The Times ("Pentagon contractor bids for British police deal&#8221;, 3rd May 2012) misrepresents KBR's track record of providing support services to the UK Government.

KBR's UK based business has provided successful operational support to a range of UK Government Departments around the world for more than a decade.

The support services that KBR delivers enable our clients to focus on their core functions. What we do so successfully for MOD at home and on operations can also support the police service in a way that will improve their ability to keep local communities safe.

KBR already provides support services to the police in the UK. We are, for example, supporting the police during the Olympic Games. Like many other companies facing the public sector, KBR is interested in helping West Midlands and Surrey Police improve their efficiency, but we have no interest in "privatising" the roles of front-line police officers.

As the competitive process for the 'Business Partnering for Police' programme has commenced it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.